Planning a summer vacation when the kids get out of school?
Customers often return home after a vacation or extended time away only to find something went wrong and they’re faced with water damage. What can you do to prevent this tragedy at your home?
Before leaving it’s recommended to do the following to your plumbing and HVAC system;
Turn the water heater thermostat dial to “vacation” setting, or to “pilot” setting. No sense in heating water when nobody’s home to use it. When you return home, if you set the dial to “vacation”, all you need to do is turn the dial back up to the desired temperature. If you set the dial to “pilot” then you need to turn the dial back to “on”.
Turn the water off. If your water heater bursts or a water line breaks while you’re away you can imagine the mess when you return. By simply turning the main water valve off you can prevent a major catastrophe. In rare cases, the main water valve also shuts off the outside sprinkler system. In this case it is recommended to keep the water to water the grass and plants, but have someone check the house daily for any problems. Also, if you do leave the water on, turn off the valves to your clothes washer. Next to a leaky water heater, broken washer hoses are the number two water damage culprit.
Set your thermostat to “hold” setting and adjust your temperature. If it’s summer time, set the thermostat at 80 to 84 degrees while you’re away. It will take awhile to cool the house back down when you return, but you’ll be saving a lot of energy while you’re away. If it’s during the winter, set the thermostat down to 50 or 55 degrees. Also if it’s during the winter, leave open the cabinet doors to any sink that’s along an outside wall. This will allow heat into the cabinet and help prevent frozen pipes.
Follow these tips and your vacation will be a happy memory for years to come.
